The Reason
by ExtraIceCream
Summary: Harry's been think about a lot of things and Ginny is defiantly one of them.


"Ginny, do you love me?" The small red head looked up at the source of the voice in surprise. He was staring at her intensely, twirling his wand in his fingers lightly as he lay sprawled out on the floor in front of the fire.

"What?" She asked after a moment, confusion coloring her voice.

"Do you love me?" His eyes sparkled softly in the light the fire was throwing off, distracting her for a moment more before she finally nodded.

"Of course I do Harry. You know that." He looked at her in silence before rolling over onto his back and staring up at the ceiling over his head, still twirling the wand between his fingers. She didn't know what to make of the question so she watched him before bending back over the book she was reading before he had spoken.

"Is that why you're here?" His voice came again. She looked at him in confusion once more. He was still staring at the ceiling but his wand had dropped to the floor next to him instead of twirling between his slender fingers.

"Why I'm where? At the Burrow? Everyone's here for Christmas." He shook his head quickly so she fell silent.

"Here at all. Living." Her mouth dropped open in surprise but he continued speaking before she could formulate an answer. "Because that's why I'm here. I love you. I love all of them but you specifically." She blinked at him as he stared at the ceiling for another second before sitting up in silence, turning away from her completely and staring into the fire.

"Harry, are you ok?" She asked quietly when he didn't speak after a while. He stared into the flames and didn't respond for the longest time. She didn't know if he was still waiting for her answer to his question.

"I've been thinking lately," he finally said. "I've been thinking about life and what I want to do now. You know, now that my destiny is fulfilled and all that rubbish." He wrapped his arms around his knees and rested his chin on them, still not looking up at her. She knew he was talking about Voldemort. It had been months since that day and it was all he'd been thinking about lately. She understood naturally. It was a big deal to finish off your greatest enemy at seventeen. She didn't know what it had to do with her though.

"What have you been thinking?" she whispered. His body was outlined by the firelight, a shadow against the light and as she watched, she imagined for a moment that she saw waves of sadness coming off of him. She shook her head and looked again and all that was left was Harry, a sad young man dealing with a lot of serious thought. She watched him as he sat the motionlessly and considered the flames in front of him.

"We fought for life." He said just as quietly as she had spoken before. "We fought for our way of life and so many of us died for it." She swallowed against the sudden lump in her throat as an image of Fred came forcefully into her mind. She knew it was worse for him, loosing most the people who had helped raise him through his years of school. "They died and we're still here and I've been thinking about why." His voice was rough as well and she watched his shoulders rise and fall as he took a few deep breaths. "Why are we here? Why am I here? Why are you here? Is it because you love me? Because that's why I'm here right now. Because I love you."

He turned his head halfway to meet her eyes. She knew they were wide open in confusion and shock but still she couldn't speak. She stared into his emerald eyes and thought hard. Why were they here? She nodded slightly, almost not realizing what she was doing. "I'm here because I love my parents." She said slowly. "I love Ron, I love Hermione, I love George and I loved Fred. And Harry Potter, I especially love you." He stood slowly and stuffed his hands in his pockets as she continued speaking, gaining conviction with each word. "I know people say kids like me don't know but I do Harry. I know that I love you, everything about you and that's why I fought and that's why I'm here today. Because I love you too."

They looked at each other as the fire crackled softly in the grate. They knew that there were other people in the house, they could hear the noises softly leaking through the wood of the walls and floors. But for that moment, it was just them alone together in all the world. Harry moved slowly, taking careful steps towards her until he stood a few feet from her and then he took her hands and gently pulled her out of the chair.

"Do you mean all that?" he asked softly and seriously. She stared into his eyes, seeing the struggle he had gone through since last he held her like this reflected in them, and she nodded.

He leaned down carefully, watching her face as he came closer and closer until her eyes slid closed and she leaned towards him slightly. His lips brushed hers gently as he wrapped his arms around her, sending a small thrill through her body at the slight contact. And then he covered her mouth with his slowly. It was a tender kind of kiss, the sort of thing lovers exchanged all over the world everyday, but to them it was the most important kiss they had ever shared. It was a kiss that spoke volumes, a kiss that told what words could never express. It embodied what they meant to each other, the love that they shared, and the future they hoped to build together. It was the children they hoped to have and the joy they hoped to find in life. When they broke apart a moment later, they stared into each others' eyes and saw all of those things again.

"I do love you Harry." She said a moment later. He nodded and gently ran a hand down her cheek.

"I know Ginny. I know."

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**A.N:** This feels weird to me, writing for Harry and Ginny again. I haven't been here for over a year. Actually, I suppose I should have expected this since that's the longest I've gone without something purely Harry Potter being written. I mean, I've done RPing (not for Harry or Ginny though) but I don't think I realized how insanely different that is from fanfiction so this is totally forgotten territory for me now. It feels good though… maybe I should do it more often, you think? Let me know if you liked it anyway.


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